The Pittsburgh Public Schools district confirmed that classes will be canceled for a dozen schools to ensure the safety of more than 2,000 students who need to travel through the Downtown area of the city.
The announcement arrived after Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich confirmed that several streets around the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, where Trump is due to speak at the natural gas Shale Insight conference, will begin closing from midnight Wednesday.
Further closures will continue until after the morning rush hour for Trump’s visit, which is set to cause major travel disruption for the rest of the day.
In a statement on their website, Pittsburgh Public Schools said that following information from city officials, the “unknown impact of rolling closures on traffic, and just out of an overabundance of caution” 12 schools which have been identified as having large numbers of students who travel through Downtown will close on Wednesday.
Pittsburgh Public Schools added that all other District schools will remain open and operate as normal. Any District Early Childhood Centers and Head Start Programs held at the closed schools will continue as scheduled. All athletic events have also been canceled Wednesday.
Ahead of Trump’s visit, Hissrich advised anyone who works in Downtown to consider working from home Wednesday or leaving early in order to avoid the congestion.
“As with any high profile event, Pittsburgh Public Safety and our partner law enforcement agencies are taking every step to address all safety concerns,” Hissrich said. “However, we can certainly use the public’s help. Traffic Downtown and around the Convention Center will be bad. I urge anyone who can avoid the area to do so.”
Trump is set to arrive in Pittsburgh around 2:30 p.m. and leave around 5 p.m.
“I can just tell you this, the sooner we can get the president out of town the faster it will be for other people to get out as well,” Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert told CBS.
Closed Pittsburgh schools:
According to the Marcellus Shale Coalition, one of the co-sponsors of the Shale Insight conference, Trump will highlight “the importance of domestic energy development to America’s economic growth, environmental progress, and national security,” with regards to natural gas production during his speech.
“President Trump recognizes the economic, environmental and national security significance of responsible American energy development and we’re excited and grateful to welcome him back to Shale Insight,” Marcellus Shale Coalition president David Spigelmyer said.
